Ella’s Kitchen urges Government to focus on early years Nutrition
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Baby and toddler food brand, Ella’s Kitchen, is urging the Government to place greater focus on early years nutrition, in the next phase of its multi-channel campaign – Veg for Victory.
Giant building blocks, made entirely of vegetables, were hand-delivered to the Department of Health by a group of little ones to raise awareness of the importance of vegetables during weaning and the long-term impact it can have on little ones’ health.
The veggie blocks, created by Ella’s Kitchen, symbolise that creating a healthy relationship with food during the early years can help lay the building blocks for good eating habits throughout childhood and beyond.
Marking an important milestone in the delivery of Ella’s Kitchen’s mission to improve children’s lives through developing healthy relationships with food, the group of little ones also delivered Ella’s Kitchen’s Greener Paper (a white paper) to the Department of Health, which highlights the importance of vegetables throughout weaning.
The Greener Paper calls on Public Health England to enhance existing weaning guidelines to reflect the latest evidence around the importance of introducing ‘vegetables first’, ‘vegetables frequently’ and vegetables in variety. The evidence** shows that the weaning period (typically around 6-12months) provides a unique window of opportunity to influence infants’ food preferences, which can track throughout childhood and beyond.
Mark Cuddigan, Ella’s Kitchen UK managing director, comments: “We are a business that puts social responsibility at its heart. Our mission is to improve children’s lives through developing healthy relationships with food. As a nation we need to do more to focus our attention on the eating habits of the under-fives and look at the very start of when babies start to explore food – as this is where relationships with food, both good and bad, are formed.
“Our Veg For Victory campaign aims to highlight the existing evidence in support of a vegetables first approach to weaning. We are therefore calling on Public Health England to review its current weaning guidelines to reflect the latest evidence, which supports a vegetables first, vegetables frequently and vegetables in variety approach, as this is a simple step that mums and dads can take, to help little ones develop a healthy relationship with food from the very first taste.”
Ella’s Kitchen is calling-on retailers, baby food manufacturers, healthcare providers and mums and dads to spread the word about a vegetables first, vegetables frequently and vegetables in variety approach to weaning.
